Gazprom asks for new deal

Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas monopoly, wants to renegotiate the price of gas it sells to Poland. The company has already written to Polish Oil and Gas (PGNiG) but did not give a reason for the request.

PGNiG says it has no interest in renegotiating the 1996 deal by which Gazprom supplies 5.75 billion cubic meters of gas per year. "We have received such a letter but we see no reason to renegotiate the deal," PGNiG's spokesperson, Małgorzata Przybylska, said. The deal is set to expire in 2022.

Concerns over Russian energy supplies have come to the fore recently after a number of high-profile events suggested that Poland's dependence on oil and gas from the east could leave it vulnerable to political pressure from the Kremlin.

Earlier this year, a former spy implied that Russia was trying to use its control of vast energy resources to regain influence in Central Europe. Later, Russia agreed to build a pipeline to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Poland, and leaving Russia a free hand to possibly cut supplies to Poland while continuing to profit from providing gas to Western Europe. Some fear that PGNiG could have no choice but to agree to Gazprom's wishes, or risk losing Russian gas imports altogether.

PGNiG has said that it wants to diversify its gas supplies by investing in a new pipeline from Iran and building a liquefied natural gas terminal near the Baltic Sea. The group also plans to raise gas production from domestic deposits. (Reuters)